Change of Plans - again! Originally, we were going to drive from Kentucky northeast to New Jersey and then into Canada, back into New York and home. Due to scheduling problems with family in New Jersey, we decided to go to Canada from Kentucky - so we would drive NNE through Ohio to go to Canada and after the Red River Gorge we were planning to meander through the remaining northern part of the Boone National Forest with a couple of big lakes. But, we changed our minds again and decided to drive east to the Kentucky West Virginia border to visit the Hatfield-McCoy museum and a couple of the tourist sites associated with the Hatfield/McCoy feud.
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| Saying good bye to one of our favorite campsites |
So, we left our nice creek-side campsite in Natural Bridge State Park and drove west on the scenic Mountain Parkway to Pikeville, Kentucky. I ran into the Visitor Center to pick up a driving tour map of the Hatfield/McCoy sites, but while I was there, I learned that the museum was closed! Duh, it is Monday, and I know that most museums are closed on Monday. The brochure gave us lots of info about the 6 year feud that the media built into an American Legend, but quite a few Hatfields and McCoys did die at each other's hands during the feud. They officially ended their feud in the 2000's during a Hatfield/McCoy families reunion when they signed a truce. The tour involved quite a lot of driving and by this time, the temps and humidity were high, many of the sites required some steep hillside walking that Jack cannot do, so instead we opted to find a local park for lunch. We followed signs for a city park atop a mountain with views of the city, countryside and "the cut-thru" where they blasted a new channel for the river that had previously repeatedly flooded the city.
We drove northeast across the Tug River that separates Kentucky (McCoys) and West Virginia (Hatfields) into western West Virginia and got another great creekside campsite in Chief Logan state forest. It was a great facility that was more like a park with many picnic areas, a pool, and many campsites - all unused. There were only four RVs and no tenters, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves, but quieter than usual with no internet or phone service.
After dark, a volunteer came by the check us in and he explained that without volunteers, the state would have to close the entire place to visitors.
He suggested that instead of trying to find backroads going north, we should drive further east on the Midland Trail, a scenic highway that cuts across central West Virginia and then take scenic route 219 north. Evening brought a few showers, high humidity, and the usual chorus of crickets, cicadas and other unseen nightlife. The one big difference between our two creekside campgrounds is that this one had bull frogs that added some bass solos to the evening bug concert and the creek moved more rapidly adding some pretty background tinkling.
